Entertainment / TV Guide
Generations could be leaving our screens
12 Jan 2015 at 16:14hrs | Views
Just when viewers were starting to get used to Generations: The Legacy, it could be leaving our screens.
That's if the 16 actors sacked from Generations last August are successful on Tuesday in a court bid to can the soapie, City Press reported.
The actors have warned creator and executive producer Mfundi Vundla, who axed them in a fight over pay, that if Generations: The Legacy airs on Monday night, they will go to the South Gauteng High Court on Tuesday to stop the SABC from airing any more episodes.
Vundla confirmed that he knew about the threat of legal action, but Generations: The Legacy would be on SABC1 as usual tomorrow at 20:00.
"I am aware of the planned legal action, but the show will go on because we have a contract with the SABC, not the actors," Vundla said.
SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago also told City Press there were no plans to pull the plug on Generations: The Legacy.
"I have heard stories that the actors plan to get an interdict against the SABC, but we have nothing official from them," Kganyago said.
Bulelani Mzamo, an attorney representing the actors, said the 16 had hoped the SABC and Vundla's MMSV Productions would pull the plug on Generations: The Legacy until the fight between the actors, the broadcaster and MMSV had been resolved.
He said this past Friday's episode of Generations: The Legacy was the last the 16 would allow.
Contravening existing contractual agreements:
"If the SABC chooses to ignore this deadline and air the ‘new' Generations, we will be left with no choice but to launch an urgent application with the high court for the removal of the soapie with immediate effect," he said.
The court action is the culmination of a letter of demand the actors delivered to the SABC and MMSV Productions in December.
The disgruntled actors said in the letter that two legal experts – one of who was Advocate Dali Mpofu – had reviewed their case, which was then before the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.
The actors said they were advised that the SABC and MMSV were contravening existing contractual agreements with the 16 by airing Generations: The Legacy.
According to their letter, Mpofu told the actors that "the matter primarily involved contractual and constitutional questions and not labour rights alone".
Mzamo agreed, telling City Press there were two contentious contractual agreements in this matter.
"One relates to the three-year contracts that the production house signed with the actors early last year," he said.
"Another is an agreement between the SABC and actors signed after they were dismissed. It stated that the public broadcaster was willing to pay the fees the actors were demanding when they went on strike and was willing to reinstate them."
Both the production house and the SABC "reneged on the agreements when the show was pulled off air and the new Generations was aired".
"This is going to be an important case, not only for defining the rights of the actors, the production company and the SABC, but also the interests of the public and the millions of Generations fans," Mzamo said.
That's if the 16 actors sacked from Generations last August are successful on Tuesday in a court bid to can the soapie, City Press reported.
The actors have warned creator and executive producer Mfundi Vundla, who axed them in a fight over pay, that if Generations: The Legacy airs on Monday night, they will go to the South Gauteng High Court on Tuesday to stop the SABC from airing any more episodes.
Vundla confirmed that he knew about the threat of legal action, but Generations: The Legacy would be on SABC1 as usual tomorrow at 20:00.
"I am aware of the planned legal action, but the show will go on because we have a contract with the SABC, not the actors," Vundla said.
SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago also told City Press there were no plans to pull the plug on Generations: The Legacy.
"I have heard stories that the actors plan to get an interdict against the SABC, but we have nothing official from them," Kganyago said.
Bulelani Mzamo, an attorney representing the actors, said the 16 had hoped the SABC and Vundla's MMSV Productions would pull the plug on Generations: The Legacy until the fight between the actors, the broadcaster and MMSV had been resolved.
He said this past Friday's episode of Generations: The Legacy was the last the 16 would allow.
Contravening existing contractual agreements:
The court action is the culmination of a letter of demand the actors delivered to the SABC and MMSV Productions in December.
The disgruntled actors said in the letter that two legal experts – one of who was Advocate Dali Mpofu – had reviewed their case, which was then before the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.
The actors said they were advised that the SABC and MMSV were contravening existing contractual agreements with the 16 by airing Generations: The Legacy.
According to their letter, Mpofu told the actors that "the matter primarily involved contractual and constitutional questions and not labour rights alone".
Mzamo agreed, telling City Press there were two contentious contractual agreements in this matter.
"One relates to the three-year contracts that the production house signed with the actors early last year," he said.
"Another is an agreement between the SABC and actors signed after they were dismissed. It stated that the public broadcaster was willing to pay the fees the actors were demanding when they went on strike and was willing to reinstate them."
Both the production house and the SABC "reneged on the agreements when the show was pulled off air and the new Generations was aired".
"This is going to be an important case, not only for defining the rights of the actors, the production company and the SABC, but also the interests of the public and the millions of Generations fans," Mzamo said.
Source - City Press
